In National Broadcast, Tinubu Reels out Govt’s Achievements

*Oil production reached 1.61m bpd in July

*Aggregate govt revenues doubled hitting over N9.1trn in first half of 2024

*Revenue on debt service down to 68% from 97%

*Cleared legitimate outstanding forex obligations of $5bn

President Bola Tinubu seized the opportunity provided by his national broadcast on the nationwide protest to reel out the achievements of his administration in the last 14 months.
In his national broadcast on Monday morning, President Tinubu noted that the Nigerian economy had remained anaemic for decades due to many misalignments that stunted its growth.

He said for the sake of now and unborn generations, a year ago, he took the painful yet necessary decision to remove fuel subsidies and abolish multiple foreign exchange systems which had constituted a noose around the economic jugular of Nigeria and impeded development.

“These actions blocked the greed and the profits that smugglers and rent-seekers made. They also blocked the undue subsidies we had extended to our neighbouring countries to the detriment of our people, rendering our economy prostrate. These decisions I made were necessary if we must reverse the decades of economic mismanagement that didn’t serve us well. Yes, I agree, the buck stops on my table. But I can assure you that I am focused fully on delivering the governance to the people – good governance for that matter.

“In the past 14 months, our government has made significant strides in rebuilding the foundation of our economy to carry us into a future of plenty and abundance. On the fiscal side, aggregate government revenues have more than doubled, hitting over 9.1 trillion Naira in the first half of 2024 compared to the first half of 2023 due to our efforts at blocking leakages, introducing automation, and mobilising funding creatively without additional burden on the people. Productivity is gradually increasing in the non-oil sector, reaching new levels and taking advantage of the opportunities in the current economic ambience.

“My dear brothers and sisters, we have come this far. Coming from a place where our country spent 97% of all our revenue on debt service; we have been able to reduce that to 68% in the last 13 months. We have also cleared legitimate outstanding foreign exchange obligations of about $5billion without any adverse impact on our programmes.

“This has given us more financial freedom and the room to spend more money on you, our citizens, to fund essential social services like education and healthcare. It has also led to our State, and Local Governments receiving the highest allocations ever in our country’s history from the Federation Account.

“Our once-declining oil and gas industry is experiencing a resurgence on the back of the reforms I announced in May 2024 to address the gaps in the Petroleum Industry Act. Last month, we increased our oil production to 1.61million barrels per day, and our gas assets are receiving the attention they deserve. Investors are coming back, and we have already seen two Foreign Direct Investments signed of over half a billion dollars since then.”